W. TERRY SMITH
Edgecombe County Memorial Library's Ann Adams will try again next week – and next month to make some Black History Month events happen.
The snow and ice prevented some artists from making it into the Tarboro library last week. They planned to set up their work on Monday and come back on Tuesday night for a reception in their honor.
"It's frustratingly," Adams said, "but what are you going to do? We have no control of the weather.
What she did is reschedule. The reception will be 6:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 9 in the library's Pender Room where the exhibit is on display. The public is invited.
The much anticipated visit by Michael Cunningham on Sunday afternoon also has been rescheduled, same times and same location but “An Afternoon with Michael Cunningham” will be on Sunday, March 7 in Edgecombe Community College's Mobley Atrium.
"They are calling for 15 to 24 inches of snow (at Cunningham's residence in Bowie, Md.)," Adams said.
Cunningham is the photographer and collaborator of the acclaimed book "Crowns: Portraits of Black Women in Church Hats."
He's also collaborated on "Spirit of Harlem: A Portrait of America’s Most Exciting Neighborhood" (2003); "Queens: Portraits of Black Women and their Fabulous Hair" (2005) and "Jewels: 50 Phenomenal Black Women over 50" (2007).
Here's some background on the three artists whose work is ondisplay at the library.
Dazzala Knight is a native of Princeville who currently resides in Rocky Mount. She is a graduate of East Carolina University with a bachelor's of fine arts degree in printmaking with a minor in art history.
She has studied abroad in Italy and her art work is displayed in several renowned museums, published in catalogs for national shows, as well as housed in private collections.
She teaches visual arts classes at Tarboro High School to students in grades 9-12.
Demetrious Noble is a photographer and self-taught artist who was inspired as a youngster while watching an artist program on television Saturday mornings with his grandfather.
He attended Dekalb Technical College in Atlanta where he studied visual communications and design. It was here that he put down his pencil and brush and developed a love affair with photography.
After graduating from DTC, Demetrious freelanced for two years before attending the Creative Circus, where he learned the business and commercial side of photography. Here he began to focus his talents toward fashion and beauty and quickly realized he had a new passion. He went on to assist photographers such as Joyce Tenneson, Diego Zitelli, Julian Hibbard before moving to New York where he shot for an array of magazines, designers and companies alike.
Noble resides in North Carolina where he has been working on a few documentary projects and still pushing the boundaries of creative expression.
Bernard J. Norman has lived in Rocky Mount for the past 42 years. He is a 1978 graduate of Rocky Mount Senior High School.
His introduction to art came while watching William Alexander and Bob Ross on television. In 2002, he started painting on white paper and used cheap brushes while a resident at Heritage Retirement Center in Rocky Mount.
Early in 2003, he stopped painting and did not resume his passion until June 2007. This time he tried painting on canvas panels but felt that his work did not progress until he started painting from photographs.
He continues to live at Heritage Retirement Center where he enjoys sharing his gift with others.
